Chapter 9: Work
After school that day.
Inside the cafeteria.
Zhang Yu, Zhou Tianyi, and Bai Zhenzhen were sitting together, eating dinner.
Bai Zhenzhen was just as she always was, cold and silent, calmly working her way through the large plate of food before her.
Zhou Tianyi glanced at Zhang Yu and said, “Your financial situation seems a bit dire lately.”
“Is it that obvious?”
Zhang Yu froze for a moment.
Have the debt collectors already started calling my classmates? he wondered. Is my seven-hundred-thousand-yuan debt about to be exposed at school?
Zhou Tianyi glanced at Bai Zhenzhen’s lavish dinner, complete with chicken, duck, fish, and meat, and then at Zhang Yu’s five-yuan pauper’s special.
He stroked his chin and said, “Based on my observations of the cafeteria over the past three months, what someone eats can be an effective reflection of their financial situation at the time, and even their cultivation level.”
“For example, someone who eats ten pounds of food in one sitting wouldn’t sit at the same table as someone who only eats three.”
“That’s because they’re in completely different social strata, occupying the top and bottom of the campus pecking order, respectively.”
So, it’s because he saw how little I’m eating. Zhang Yu breathed a sigh of relief, thinking his status as a dirt-poor debtor was about to be revealed.
He turned to Bai Zhenzhen, his eyes landing on the dozen or so chicken legs on her tray, and asked with a curious expression, “Zhen, those chicken legs look amazing. Let me try one, please?”
Without looking up, Bai Zhenzhen said, “Get lost.”
Beside them, Zhou Tianyi smiled and picked a duck leg from his own bowl for Zhang Yu.
“Zhenzhen had a really intense workout today; you can tell she’s famished. Here, try mine.”
“You’re a true brother!” Zhang Yu gave Zhou Tianyi a thumbs-up, grabbing the duck leg and starting to gnaw on it.
Watching Zhang Yu wolf down the food, Zhou Tianyi smiled faintly.
“If you’re having money problems, I can lend you some.”
Zhang Yu waved his hand. “No need. I’ll figure it out myself.”
Even though he was drowning in debt, Zhang Yu had no intention of borrowing from his classmates; it wasn’t as if that could solve a seven-hundred-thousand-yuan debt in one go. What he needed was a way to earn money consistently and keep up with his repayments.
I have to at least cover the monthly interest. I can’t let the collectors escalate their methods any further.
Zhang Yu knew that the longer his payments were overdue, the more aggressive the collection agency would become, moving from online harassment to real-world threats, each step more severe than the last.
And there’s rent, utilities, food…
A headache began to throb as he considered it all.
Just after Zhou Tianyi left, Bai Zhenzhen suddenly spoke up.
“Based on my observations of you and Zhou Tianyi these past three months, he’s exceptionally good to you.”
“He is?”
Bai Zhenzhen let out a dry laugh. “A guy smiling while giving a duck leg from his own bowl to another guy… in my eighteen years, I’ve only ever seen that happen in two situations.”
“One, they’re father and son.”
“The other… hehehehe…”
Zhang Yu raised an eyebrow. “Zhen, you’ve been reading some interesting things, haven’t you?”
“Yu-boy, you don’t actually have to be afraid. In this school, you’re the one in the dominant position, anyway.”
With that, Bai Zhenzhen pushed her own tray in front of Zhang Yu.
“Sigh, I can’t eat another bite. I’ll bestow these leftovers upon you. Who told you to be my good boy, after all?”
“Get lost,” Zhang Yu retorted, snatching the tray. A single glance revealed that a good portion of the food inside was neatly arranged and clearly untouched.
Just as Zhang Yu looked up to thank her, he only saw Bai Zhenzhen’s back as she walked out of the cafeteria.
Once outside, Bai Zhenzhen’s expression became indifferent again.
Yu-boy, she thought, there’s actually a third situation where that happens.
Bai Zhenzhen turned her head and looked toward the steps of the cafeteria entrance, where one of the cafeteria workers was pouring leftovers from a slop bucket into a bowl for a cat.
After leaving the school, Zhang Yu began to scheme up ways to make money.
My rent is fifteen hundred, utilities are over two hundred a month, and the loan repayment is fifteen thousand a month…
Hiss…
At that thought, his head began to ache again.
I need to earn at least twenty thousand a month. A normal job definitely won’t cut it.
With a thought from Zhang Yu, the Feather Book unfurled before him.
[Zhang Yu]
[Dao Heart: Level 1]
[Magic power: 7.7]
[Physical Strength: Level 0.84]
[Martial Arts: Thirty-Six Body-Strengthening Forms Level 2 (17/20), Freehand Combat Level 1, Basic High School Swordplay Level 0]
[Daoist arts: Basic Breathing Technique Level 1, Basic Heart Tempering Art Level 1]
Seeing the new entry for ‘Basic High School Swordplay Level 0’, Zhang Yu’s mind flashed back to his martial arts class from earlier that day.
The so-called martial arts class was a course for learning various combat techniques, and a full eighty of the one hundred points for the class were based on practical application.
For instance, first-year students were required to learn one form of unarmed combat and one weapon-based combat art.
This Basic High School Swordplay was precisely what he had learned in class today, but because he hadn’t truly mastered it yet, it was still displayed as Level 0.
However, when Zhang Yu tried, he found that he could also drag the ‘Basic High School Swordplay Level 0’ entry.
He figured that if he focused on this martial art, he could leverage his potential to master it and then level it up quickly.
As these thoughts flashed through his mind, Zhang Yu continued to stare at his status panel, contemplating what kind of work he could do.
I may have only just set foot on the path of the Immortal Dao, but I’m still an official student at Songyang High School…
A moment later, Zhang Yu began using his phone to contact his old tutoring center.
The original Zhang Yu had gotten into Songyang High School only after attending sessions at this very center.
The pay at these tutoring centers should be decent, and as an official Songyang High School student, I ought to have an advantage.
But after he inquired, a teacher at the center told him they were already fully staffed and that he should try other places.
So, Zhang Yu started contacting other tutoring centers.
“Hello, I’d like to apply for a part-time tutoring position. I’m a first-year student at Songyang High School…”
“And where did you graduate from for elementary and middle school?”
“That doesn’t matter, I’m already an official student at Songyang High School!”
“I’m sorry, but there are plenty of tutors from top-tier high schools. For an ungraduated, first-year student like yourself looking for part-time work, parents place a lot of importance on your elementary and middle school credentials.”
After he told them which elementary and middle schools he had attended, the other party stopped replying.
After this same conversation repeated itself five or six times, Zhang Yu gradually began to understand.
Dammit!
Who knew they’d be so strict about elementary and middle school credentials?
Has the competition for tutoring jobs really gotten this intense?
Zhang Yu felt as if his elementary and middle school histories were two ugly labels branded onto his face, making even the search for a part-time tutoring job incredibly difficult.
Thus, Zhang Yu had no choice but to temporarily abandon the tutoring center route and move on to his backup plan.
I guess I’ll have to try finding some odd jobs for now.
In fact, the original Zhang Yu had already learned a bit about this path of working odd jobs over the first three months of the school year.
Of course, this wasn’t the kind of temporary work ordinary people looked for, but rather jobs for those who had already embarked on the Immortal Dao.
High school students made up a significant portion of this group; after all, not every student was a rich kid. A good number of them needed to earn their own money, either to ease the burden on their families or to buy things they wanted for themselves.
And since high school students lacked a diploma and had to spend most of their time in class, they could usually only take on temporary, part-time jobs.
Zhang Yu had looked into this a bit over the last couple of days, so he immediately added an agent and asked if there was any work available.
“You’re asking too late. All of today’s jobs have been taken for now.”
“Why don’t you come over here and wait? That way you can grab any new jobs as soon as they come up.”
…
Half an hour later, Zhang Yu arrived at a small plaza.
From a distance, he could see many people scattered about the plaza, some sitting, some lying down. They were old and young, men and women; some were napping on the ground, while others, still in their school uniforms, were seated cross-legged, performing breathing exercises.
Following the address he was given, Zhang Yu found a human resources company in a corner of the plaza.
The company wasn’t large; its storefront looked like a real estate agency, with various crude recruitment flyers plastered all over its grimy glass windows.
After a glance at the old sign, Zhang Yu pushed the door open, and a thick wave of smoke hit him in the face, causing him to frown.
Behind a cluttered desk, a middle-aged man who was smoking looked up, glanced at Zhang Yu, and said, “Are you that high school kid who just called?”
When Zhang Yu nodded, the man introduced himself as Old Wang, the agent here. He pulled out a few sheets of paper and said, “Fill out this form. I’ll get you registered in a bit.”
Zhang Yu took the papers and saw that in addition to personal information, he had to fill in his learned martial and Daoist arts, including their levels, as well as his school grades.
Handing the completed form back to the man, Zhang Yu asked, “How long does it usually take to find a job? And what’s the pay like?”
Old Wang scratched his messy hair and said casually, “The minimum is a few hundred an hour… but it’s hard to say how long it’ll take to find something. If your luck’s bad, it’s normal to go a week without work.”
The pay is that high here? Zhang Yu thought. If that’s the case, working just two or three hours a day should be enough to cover my loan payments and living expenses, right?
A flicker of joy ignited in Zhang Yu’s heart at the thought.
But then he heard the man say that jobs were hard to come by, and he asked curiously, “Why is that?”
He emphasized his own credentials. “I’m in the top ten of my class at a top-tier high school. Is it still that hard to find work?”
Old Wang chuckled at this and pointed outside.
“See those people in the plaza? Apart from high school students like you, the rest are all high school graduates.”
Zhang Yu was shocked and found it hard to believe.
“How is that possible? They’ve graduated high school and are on the path of cultivation, but they’re still here looking for temporary work?”
Old Wang shrugged. “They didn’t get into a university. Not every high school student does, you know.”
“If you can’t get into a university, you’re stuck in the Qi Refining stage for life. You can’t ascend to the second level of Kunxu, so you can only scrape by on this first level, year after year…”
Zhang Yu was still confused. “But they could still get a full-time job on the first level, right? Why do temporary work?”
Old Wang explained, “They don’t need to sleep. They come looking for temporary gigs after finishing their day jobs, assuming their companies don’t require overtime.”
“Otherwise, how would they make their loan payments? Or have enough money to maintain their cultivation?”
The man’s words sent ripples through Zhang Yu’s mind. In his previous memories, he had no idea that life after high school graduation was this arduous.
He had always imagined that after graduating, even if you didn’t get into a university, you’d get a decent salary sitting in an air-conditioned office in a downtown skyscraper, sipping tea…
But it turned out to be twenty-four hours of studying before graduation, followed by twenty-four hours of working after. The hardship just kept piling on.
Old Wang looked at Zhang Yu’s form and smiled.
“Oh, Songyang High School. That makes us schoolmates. I went there too, but I dropped out in my third year.”
“Dropped out?” Zhang Yu asked.
Old Wang shrugged. “Couldn’t get into a university, so I figured I might as well stop wasting money. I only just finished paying off my high school loans the year before last.”
“Since we’re schoolmates, let me give you a piece of advice.”
“Know your limits in high school. If you feel like you’re not going to make it, cut your losses early. You don’t want to end up like some people, drowning in so much debt that their whole life is ruined.”
After he finished filling out the form, the man told Zhang Yu to wait outside and that he would be notified immediately if any work came up.
“Competing against all those high school graduates,” Zhang Yu said, “will there even be any jobs left for me?”
“Don’t worry,” said Old Wang. “Some jobs are specifically looking for currently enrolled high school students.”